Princess Diana Was Preparing Prince Harry to Be King, Believing 'Shy' Prince William Didn’t Want 'Top Job,' Friend Says
Princess Diana Was Preparing Prince Harry to Be King, Believing 'Shy' Prince William Didn’t Want 'Top Job,' Friend Says
Simon PerryWed, March 11, 2026 at 2:23 PM UTC
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Princess Diana and her son Prince HarryCredit: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty; Craig Barritt/Getty
Princess Diana thought she should also prepare Prince Harry to be king one day, according to her friend.
As the older brother, Prince William, now 43, was aware of his destiny. However, he was also shy and somewhat reticent about his future royal role, something his mother sensed and appreciated.
Her confidante and friend, the veteran royal writer Richard Kay, recounted how Diana felt on the Daily Mail's Palace Confidential podcast.
“I think William has been a bit of a surprise. He was a shy young man,” Kay said. “Certainly, when his mother was still alive, she would tell me that she never really thought that William wanted the ‘top job,’ as she called it. The idea that he would one day wear the crown."
“She, in her mind, was preparing the way for the possibility that it would be Harry who succeeded his father," he added. "She had a nickname for Harry: She used to call him 'Good King Harry' — a throwback to medieval days.”
Prince William and Prince Harry when they unveiled a statue to their mother at Kensington Palace in July 2021Credit: YUI MOK/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
But the veteran royal writer went on, “Things haven’t worked out like that, and I think we are all rather grateful that they haven’t.”
He raised the subject of how some people used to speculate about Princess Margaret being better suited for the role of monarch than Princess Elizabeth.
“The consensus was ‘we got the right one.’ And, I think we got the right one in William as Prince of Wales," he said.
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Kay noted how Prince William has "grown into" his role and embraced that destiny, with his wife, Kate Middleton, by his side.
“What I quite like about him is that he is coming up with some quite different ways to approach royalty," Kay added. "He recognizes that some of the aspects of modern monarchy is antediluvian and doesn’t resonate well with the modern public, and I think he is aware that he’s going to have to make some big changes to ensure its survival.”
Princess Diana and Richard Kay in Kensington, London in 1996Credit: David O'Neil/Mail On Sunday/Shutterstock
The journalist and Princess Diana became close friends after he began covering the royal beat and reporting on her life. She would brief him privately when she wanted her perspective conveyed in the often-critical newspapers of the time, and the two even went to the movies together.
Diana died in August 1997 at age 36 following a car crash in Paris, and Kay has spoken before about how he and the princess shared a phone call on the previous evening.
In his interview for Palace Confidential, Kay was looking back on a 40-year career, much of which has been reporting on the royal family.
Princess Diana with William, left, and Harry in London in May 1995Credit: Anwar Hussein/Getty
Prince William and Prince Harry, who are estranged, are last known to have reunited in August 2024 at the memorial service for their uncle, Lord Robert Fellowes, held at St. Mary’s Church in Norfolk. However, sources revealed the brothers kept their distance, sitting apart and avoiding interaction throughout the event.
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The brothers came together when they unveiled a statue of their late mother in July 2021, on the day that would have been her 60th birthday, and also reunited during the funeral events for Queen Elizabeth in September 2022. However, when Harry was visiting Britain and some of his charities in September 2025, the princes were only eight miles apart at one point and did not meet up.
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